More on Tech Industry Labor

Apple has been taking a lot of PR hits as of late when it comes to its relationship with Foxconn. Now the notoriously secretive company is trying to do some things that will hopefully dispel some of those fears and ease minds. During last nights episode of Nightline, a long-running late night ABC news series, […]

The unfortunate souls piecing together our precious Apple gear are not happy. Being underpaid and grossly overworked will do that to a large group of people. According to a breaking China Labor Watch report, thousands of employees have gone on strike due to unfair iPhone manufacturing demands. Today is the not the day for this […]

On Thursday the Fair Labor Association released its investigative report summarizing the working conditions at three of Foxconn’s factories. The association found health and safety risks and also said that employees were working “excessive overtime.” Foxconn has decided to cut back the maximum number of hours an employee can work to 49 hours per week, […]

China Labor Watch has leveled a number of accusations against Samsung supplier HTNS Shenzhen, Bloomberg reported on Friday, including violations of underage workers and forcing employees to work unreasonable overtime hours. But that’s not all. Workers are reportedly being subjected to squalid factory conditions, with poor air quality a particular concern. The news comes after Samsung claimed an internal audit turned up nothing of significance, including no evidence of underage workers.

On top of poor working conditions, there are allegedly no contingency plans should anyone get injured on the job—no fire extinguishers were discovered in the 1,100-person facility. And that’s just the half of it. Needless fines are being doled out to workers for negligible infractions: taking “too much” rice without finishing, leaving dorm lights on, etc.

Some of the smaller problems noted by CLW were initially acknowledged by Samsung, such as the overtime hours; the company has promised things will improve. But the bigger allegations—child labor, terrible working conditions—are something Samsung will need to address, fast. The company is currently one of the hottest names in the world—forget the tech industry—meaning a lot of criticism will likely be aimed at Galaxy S III-maker. That’s exactly what happened to Apple.